100 Situations
by Zhelana
Summary: Short scenes based on the prompts from lj community 100 situations. These all take place in 1st season seaQuest, but are each stand-alone pieces.
1. Tired

The alarm blared. Bleary eyed, Lucas swatted at it, temporarily making it turn off. Today was a big day. It was the first day he was an official UEO employee instead of just a kid hitching a ride on a submarine. He was supposed to report to Katie Hitchcock at 7am promptly. He had set his alarm promptly, but then insomnia had hit, and he had spent the night talking to Wolfman on the InterNex. For the third time, his alarm sounded. "Okay okay okay," he muttered, throwing his legs out of bed. He stumbled a few steps then opened his closet door. He tossed his lucky Marlin's Jersey and a pair of jeans on his bed and got changed. Then he stumbled to the cafeteria and grabbed some scrambled eggs and toast. He ate it without noticing the flavor, then looked at his watch. 7:01. "Shit!" he swore, and then ran for the bridge. 7:05. He stopped, with his limbs splaying out a little, at Katie's seat. She pointedly looked at her watch.

"I'm sorry, Commander. I was so excited I couldn't sleep last night."

"Lucas, this is the military, no one gives a damn about your excuses. Don't let it happen again."

"Yes, commander, I'm sorry." He said again.

"Never mind. We seem to have a virus that is evading our virus scan software. We don't know what it's doing but we need it eliminated. It's causing popup ads on all of our consoles and if there were an emergency we could be delayed by stupid popup ads," she told him.

"No problem, I'll get right on it." Lucas "uh, where do I work?" he said, pausing temporarily.

"In your room, like you always have, Lucas," she gave him that smile that had won hearts at WestRidge farming community.


	2. Back Alley

Ben Krieg wore jeans and a button down t-shirt when he slid around the corner into the back alley. There were some things he knew because of parts of his job that he found less pleasant than others. This was one of them, although this was not business. When supply chains broke down in the UEO for certain things, he knew how to get them. He just didn't necessarily like the people he had to deal with to do it. A dark figure in black sweat suit and hoody approached him from behind.

"How do you like that new-fangled gadget?" the stranger asked.

"Better than the old-fangled gadget," he replied evenly.

"What is the UEO doing with what I sell?" the man asked.

"The UEO can't find out about this. This is strictly personal," Ben answered, getting a little nervous.

The man handed him a cooler, and he handed the man an envelope of cash. The man quickly opened it and counted it. "Thank you very much," he said, when he was satisfied that it was the agreed upon amount.

"Thank you," Ben answered, then walked away. He finally had it. One completely illegal, delicious, nutritious hamburger.


	3. Sunrise

There was one thing that Kristen Westphalen missed more than anything else living on a submarine. That was the sunrise. The bright reds and purples coming over the ocean from her home in England were incredible. When she was a girl, she saw them every day while she waited for the school bus in the morning. As a young woman and college student she had gotten up early nearly every day just to watch the sunrise. Now she almost never got to see either the sunrise or the sunset. She and Nathan stood on the dock at New Cape Quest. He had taken her out early, just for this. She watched as the sky performed its delicate dance, coloring the clouds beautiful red and purple shades. As the colors faded to blue, she leaned over and towards him.

"May I kiss you, doctor?" He asked.

"Always," she answered, moving her arms to embrace him.

He held her close, and they closed their eyes and brought their lips together. The moment was magical. She almost wished she wasn't going to leave the seaQuest for England the next day, but then she remembered that she had a practice and a life to build on land. She held him closer, momentarily, then let go. He let go too. "We have a full day ahead of us. Let's not ruin it by thinking about what come next," he said

"Good plan. What are we doing next?" She asked.


	4. Late

Miguel was late for his check-in. He had promised to check in with the seaQuest every 12 hours while he was in Cuban territory. They were unaligned with the UEO, and being caught there as a UEO service member could get you killed. Still, his father had died, and he needed to go home to deal with all the technicalities that involved, and see his sister and brothers. Cuba was still a socialist government, and the Obama administration's loosening of rules regarding American trade and travel to the country had helped them, but not much. Everyone was still desperately poor. Still, there would be sentimental items which Miguel and his family would bicker over.

"Mister O'Neil," Captain Bridger interrupted the silence. "Organize a team to find Mr Ortiz, please."

"Yes, sir." He began calling Crocker's security people.

When he had a team together, they boarded a shuttle and went into Cuban territory. The seaQuest would have to hide because being caught there could be seen as an act of war, but they could be back in American waters in moments. It was only 90 miles from Havana to New Cape Quest. The away team landed in Havana, and started tracking Miguel's movements through a GPS placed into his communicator. He was close, assuming he was still with his communicator.

They closed in on the house, and knocked on the door. A latina woman answered the door. Tim asked her if Miguel were there.

"No, and thank God you came. They came for him at the funeral. The police, they took my brother away."

Tim felt as though he'd been sucker punched in the gut.

"Can we come in?" he asked her.

"I think it's best if we're not associated with the UEO anymore than we already are," she said closing the door in his face.

Tim looked at Crocker. "What do we do?"

"We go to the police station and see if we can find Miguel," Crocker answered.

Tim nodded. They moved double time towards the police station. Much to their surprise, they found Miguel immediately. He was being held in a cell with a window, and he could see and speak to them through the open air room.

"There's only two policemen here," Miguel told them. "You can easily overpower them."

"Great," Tim said, moving with his six men towards the entrance.

He walked in the door, and shot the first guard with his stun gun in one movement. Then he ransacked the unconscious body for keys before leaving him handcuffed to the desk. Finding the keys, he ran through the jail, unlocking every cell so that it wouldn't be obvious they had come in for Miguel. When he had freed the 10 prisoners, including Miguel, they all ran out the door and back to the launch.


	5. Son

Nathan walked into the church and stared at the crucifix at the front of the room. It was too much. It was too much to ask that he find his old faith. God had stolen Robert much too young, and then to top it off, He had stolen his wife, and only comfort. He looked at Jesus on the cross. "What did I do wrong?" he asked aloud. He received no answer. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he said.

"It's not about what you did wrong," came a voice from the back of the room.

Nathan startled and spun around.

"Father, you scared me," he said, recatching his breath.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to," the father answered, "I just heard that perhaps you were in distress and I have come to listen."

"I don't really think a confession is what I need right now," Nathan answered.

"I didn't have a confession in mind. Just a listening ear."

"I just, I lost my wife and my son," Nathan told him. "I have the opportunity to start over again, with a job I ran away from when my son died, and many of the people I love and care about most. But I promised my wife I was done with the navy when my son died."

"The navy is a tough job. But if that's where the people you love are left, it sounds like it may be your best hope for recovery," the priest told him.

"Thank you father," Nathan said, suddenly, standing up and walking out of the church and back to the seaQuest.


	6. Hot

Katherine Hitchcock was drenched in sweat. She had taken off her UEO uniform and was wearing an undershirt and shorts while she struggled with the very heavy pipes that were supposed to be sending cool air through the third deck. This was the second time this year the damned thing had broken. Crocker's security personnel were helping lift the pipes, and they all grunted under the effort. One of them wiped sweat off his face onto his uniform. "The coupling is on the fritz" she said, finally, pulling the tiny chip out of the wall. "Get Ben, and ask him for a replacement. It's a 25 cent part. Certainly we have them?"

One of the men paged Ben, who came running down in full military uniform with the part. "Hot down here," he commented.

"Really, Ben? I had no idea." Katie looked at him, then looked at herself. She was basically wearing her underwear, and although Ben had seen her in a lot less, that was a different life now. He was staring at her.

"Ben, get out of here," she snapped.

"Right, oh, sorry. I was just. I mean, here's the part you wanted. Sorry. I'm gone," and with that he turned around and ran back to the cooler decks above deck 3.


	7. Friend

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Crocker asked.

"Of course," Nathan responded without even thinking about it.

"I know you love Lucas, hell we all do, but you more than most. But you can't let yourself get too wrapped up in his decisions. He's a 16 year old, not a tiny child. He's going to make bad decisions from time to time, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Oh I know. But it frustrates me when someone so smart is so damned stupid," Nathan replied. "Sometimes he seems like another adult when he's the only one who can solve something, like that virus Stark left. Then sometimes…" he trailed off and gestured helplessly at the wrecked Stinger.

"Don't go too hard on him, Cap. I think the broken arm will be a better lesson than any you could hope to impart."

"Hotdogging I expect. A little recklessness I expect. Hotdogging drunk though? There has to be some kind of consequence beyond the broken arm. At the very least, he can't use the Stinger anymore." Nathan felt himself starting to get into a rant, and stopped.

"I think that's reasonable. But Cap, remember back to our own academy days when we stole the army's tanks and drove those drunk down the mountain."

Nathan winced. It hadn't been his proudest moment, but fortunately, it's hard to get hurt in a tank.

"Alright, Crocker, your point has been made. Let me go talk to Lucas. I'm sure he could use a more friendly face than Kristin right now." He smiled a little bit, remembering, and then put his stern face back on and walked down to medbay. Before he left, he turned around and took one good look at Crocker. It was good to have a friend aboard.


	8. Floor

Lucas stood up from the bed he was in in medbay. Then he hit the floor. "Ugh," he muttered, putting his hands on the floor and attempting to stand up. He got himself situated, holding onto the bed. Then he attempted to stand again, and hit the floor. "Doc, what's wrong with me?" he asked.

"You're drunk. You're too drunk to drive, and yet you were driving, and you're lucky the seaQuest heard your emergency beacon before the police did or else you'd be sitting in jail right now nursing a hangover.

"Oh man, I wrecked the Stinger?"

You did, and I'd be shocked if Nathan ever let you drive it again anyway."

"I probably deserve that," Lucas said aloud while thinking "now I'm stuck on this submarine and can't even have a social life?"

"You absolutely deserve that," Kristin told him. "I wouldn't even feel bad for you if you were in that jail cell."

"You'd feel a little bad," Lucas argued.

"Maybe a little, Lucas, but what you did? You're supposed to be smart. This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen you do. It was irresponsible. You could have gotten killed. You could have killed someone else. A child even. Then what? Then there's nothing anyone could have done to keep you out of prison on manslaughter charges. Lucas, you…" she stopped as Nathan walked in the door.


	9. Cheat

"It wasn't going to happen Ben. You cheated on me." Katie spat at him.

"Only once, and it was an accident." He tried to defend himself.

"Oh you accidentally put your dick in another girl's mouth?" she asked.

"We were drunk. We were all drunk. Katie you know that."

"Drunk isn't an excuse, Ben. Millions, billions of people get drunk every weekend and don't cheat."

"I didn't think that…"

"Exactly you didn't think." She cut him off.

"Katie," he tried.

"Don't Katie me, Ben. You screwed up, and your actions have consequences." She turned to walk away from him. He started to follow her, but decided against it at the last minute, and turned back to his computer. It had been the worst mistake of his life. He couldn't live with himself having hurt her like that, but for her to not even let him close to her afterwards stung. He had thought they were forever, an unshakeable match. He had shaken things, and they had broken. Now he wanted only to fix his mistake, but he was not going to be given that opportunity.

Lucas joined him at the computer. "Hey Ben, any idea why Commander Hitchcock looks so upset?"

"Does she?" he asked, almost hopefully.

"She does," Lucas confirmed.

"It's a long story. I screwed up, years ago, and she won't let me forget it," Ben said shaking his head.


	10. Think

"Shouldn't try to be a straight A student, if you are then you think too much," Ben sang and danced to Billy Joel as he walked from MedBay to the bridge. Lucas caught up with him. "Just because you couldn't be a straight A student doesn't mean you should knock those of us who were," he teased.

"Oh Lucas, you don't know the classics," Ben complained.

"Billy Joel? What has he done since 1985?"

"That's not the point, Lucas. He's one of the greats."

"He's older than my father. He's older than your father, and he's married to a girl your age," Lucas pointed out.

"That's not the point."

"But it is. That's gross, and I don't want to financially support it," Lucas said.

"Your loss," Ben said. "You're welcome to come with Tim and me when we go see him in Pearl Harbor next weekend."

"No thanks," Lucas said, turning away humming "sing us a song you're the piano man," then yelling "damnit!"

"Got you, did it?" Ben asked, turning around.

"Ugh, yeah," Lucas groaned.

"He's a classic," Ben said, "you sure you won't come with?"

"No, I really don't want to go, but thanks Ben. I mean it."


	11. Disgust

Sometimes it wasn't worth living on a submarine where there were only communal bathrooms and no privacy at all, Lucas thought with disgust as he ran for the bathroom puking as he went. He looked with disgust as the vomit fell through the floor into the duct work. "I hope that eventually gets cleaned," he thought before losing all his thoughts as he emptied his stomach into the toilet. He sat back on his knees, and just sat there for a few minutes, trying to judge whether he was going to need the toilet again.

"You alright, Lucas?" Ben asked, following him into the bathroom.

"I think so. Just not feeling too hot right now," Lucas told him, flushing the toilet.

"I see that. You drunk?" Ben asked.

"No," Lucas shot defensively, "Bridger won't let me touch that stuff, and I haven't been off the seaQuest since I wrecked the Stinger."

"Just had to ask," Ben said. "Time to head to MedBay. Kristin will want to see you."

"It's just a flu," Lucas protested.

"Just a flu can be a big deal on a submarine, though. You can get everyone sick if you don't go into quarantine."

Lucas groaned

"Come on, let's go see the doctor," Ben took him by the arm, and helped him off the floor.


	12. Shelter

Lights flashed red and sirens sounded. "Red alert, red alert, all hands man battle stations" was being announced over the loudspeaker by a disembodied voice. Lucas stared at Darwin for a moment and then joined the stampede in the hallway. He knew his assignment during a red alert was to go to his own room and close and lock the door. Unfortunately, all of the seaQuest crew members were running the opposite direction of where he needed to go through the hallways. He ducked back into the moon pool.

"Lucas scared," Darwin chirped.

"Yeah, Darwin, Lucas scared." Lucas said. Water splashed over the edge of the pool. Lucas closed it so the lid came on top of it. The boots slowed outside of the moon pool. Lucas ran towards his room. The boat lurched to the left, and he stumbled, falling, and twisting his knee. He tried to stand up, but collapsed again, yelling, "aw, fuck. Ow!" There would be no one nearby if he yelled. He had to get to MedBay, or to a communicator to call the doctor. He stood on his right leg, hopping on one foot until he reached the moon pool again. "Darwin. Get the doctor." He said into the vocorder. Darwin nodded, and swam off in the direction of the doctor's MedBay.

"Lucas hurt," he said to Kristin.

"What? Darwin, where?"

Darwin nodded and started swimming towards Lucas. Kristin followed behind him at a jog.


	13. Borrow

"Do you have any G rated films?" Lucas asked Ben.

"This is a sub-mar-ine. Can you say that? Submarine?" Ben asked back.

"I know, but Chloe is coming, and I want to show her something risk free, after all the trauma she's endured, I want something classic," Lucas explained.

"Well I have a collection of movies about the ocean," Ben finally admitted. "Moana might be in there."

"That would be perfect, Ben, thanks!"

Ben pulled it out of the closet, and had Lucas sign all the requisite paperwork to borrow something from the ship's library. Lucas thanked Ben, and then made his way back to his own room. He watched the DVD extras while he waited for word that his friend had come aboard. When Nathan called him, he ran towards sea deck as quickly as the MagLev would take him. "Chloe!" he yelled, and hugged her.

"Hi," she said, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and then returning the embrace.

"What do you kids have planned?" Bridger asked.

"A Movie in my room, then dinner in the crew mess, and a meeting with Darwin."

"Sounds good, behave." Nathan said smiling.

"Of course, Cap." Lucas said taking Chloe's hand and walking with her back to his room, taking the long way around so they could talk.


	14. Chair

Tim almost fell out of his chair. The strike to the seaQuest was a severe one, and it would take time to repair it, it was clear. He spoke in Spanish as rapidly as he could, trying to convince the enemy sub that they didn't want to pick a fight with someone twice their own size. He frowned as the Cuban sub did not respond to any of his commands. "I'm sorry, sir, I'm just not getting anything," he said to Captain Bridger.

"Target them, Mister Ortiz," Bridger said. "Then try one more time, Mr O'Neil."

"Aye sir," they both said, and Ortiz began a targeting sweep. Tim spoke in Spanish one more time, but there was no response.

"Sir, they are targeting us again," Ortiz announced.

"Target their propulsion system. Take them down," Bridger responded, "and countermeasures away."

"Countermeasures away," Ortiz responded. "Firing torpedoes." He pushed a few buttons and the torpedoes left the ship aimed at the enemy propulsion system.

"They're down, sir," he announced.

"Get me a team that speaks Spanish and go find out what is wrong with that ship, and why they're firing on us. Treat them as hostile, and bring them back. I'll have Crocker ready a team at the brig."

Ortiz and O'Neil joined four others in a boarding party. As they boarded the boat, they yelled out for anyone to surrender. To their surprise, the entire crew surrendered. The captain claimed his ship had been hacked, and they hadn't been able to respond to hails or stop from attacking. The seaQuest would have to find the hacker. Tim knew just the person for that job.


	15. Alter

Chief Shan sat with a chalice in his hands, and a little bit of salt sitting on a night stand. It was difficult to have an altar on a submarine. For one thing, he didn't want anyone else to guess what it was, and for another, occasionally the boat shook which would scatter the salt, or knock over the chalice. He wasn't allowed to have a knife large enough to qualify as an athame, and nor was he allowed any candles, although he had two fake ones that lit little bulbs. He frowned. He had known he would give up his altar to go to boot camp, but he hadn't realized he would not have it for the rest of his career. He sighed, then spilt a little bit of salt between the two "candles" and put his chalice of water behind it. That would have to do, he thought. It was a full moon, so time for a ritual. He cleansed himself, and sat before the altar, and meditated on the glow of the fake candles. He couldn't even see the moon from underwater, which upset him more than he expected it to. Still, it would have to do. He couldn't expect shore leave every month.


	16. Peace

"I signed up for a peace keeping mission, not a war mission," Nathan Bridger said aloud to a hologram of his old Academy professor.

"You signed up for a military submarine with a peacekeeping mission," the hologram replied. "You've been in the Navy long enough to know that peace keeping often is a code word for war."

"Bill told me it was different now," Nathan objected, though he knew that he was defeated. They had been calling military movements "peacekeeping" missions since Vietnam. It was a way to sell war to a populace which was tired of war after 200 years of perpetual warfare. True, it was finally peace time; the first peace time in America's history. Yet, there were pirates and apparently pissed off former captains to contend with. The remnants of ISIS sometimes attacked various subs and undersea colonies. The next war would probably be with ISIS, he thought, annoyed. Peace could never last for long when you were the superpower.

"Is it not different now?" the hologram asked, "you have your science contingent, and they outnumber the military personnel aboard this vessel."

"It is different, I guess. I only hope we can stick to their mission more often than the military one from now on," Nathan mused.

"I think that is why the admiral was so happy to see you aboard," the professor replied.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Thank you. You've been very helpful," Nathan said, switching the program off and sitting back on his bed.


	17. Beach

The crew of the seaQuest sat on the beach at Pearl Harbor. It was rare to have time off at a time when there wasn't really enough time to go home, but there was plenty of time to watch some dolphins play in the surf, or take a dip in the ocean. Lucas and Ben were about waist deep in the water, jumping as waves came up to them, and squatting most of the time. The waves were large; it was nearly high tide. It was just a refueling stop, but it felt great to breathe the natural air, and watch the sunset together. A few people had run into town to find a beer or three, but the majority of the crew was on the white sandy beaches of the newest beach city in the country. Even Darwin was off for the time being. He swam up next to Lucas and Ben and chattered happily. Lucas laughed, "hey Darwin," he said, petting the dolphin's melon, and eliciting more happy chatter from the mammal. Darwin ducked his head under the water, and came up with a fish. Lucas laughed. "Gotta eat, huh, Darwin?" he asked. The dolphin nodded, or maybe he was just swallowing his fish.


	18. True

"Darwin good hunter," the dolphin chirped.

"Yes, I'm sure that's true, Darwin," Lucas answered, "but right now we have to work on your vocabulary,"

"Darwin hunt fish," Darwin tried again.

"Fine, let me ask the Captain if we are high enough in the water, and staying still enough for you to go out and hunt," Lucas spoke into the yellow vocorder. Then he reached for one of the ship's communicators. "Lucas to Captain," he asked.

"Lucas, what is it? I've just gone to bed," came the reply.

"Sorry, sir, I'll ask commander Ford," Lucas said trying again, "Lucas to Commander Ford?"

"Ford here," came the immediate answer.

"Commander, Darwin is insisting on going outside to hunt. Can I send him out?"

"Yes, I'll open the sea doors for him now," the commander answered, and the door to the moon pool began to shut. Darwin swam off. An hour later he returned with a still-living octopus. He brought it into the moon pool, and let it go, chasing it as it tried to swim away from him. He caught it, then let it go again.

"Darwin, don't play with your food," Lucas admonished.

"Darwin hunt," the dolphin said prodding the octopus with his rostrum

"Are you hunting for food, or because you want to hunt?" Lucas asked him as the octopus swam away as quickly as it could.

"Darwin hunt," the dolphin said again, chasing after the octopus. This time, he finally ate it.


	19. Crazy

"Tim, if you'd told me three years ago I'd be subservient to a walking, talking cheeto, I'd have called you crazy," Miguel said.

"Me too, honestly, but being a part of the UEO shields us from the worst of it," Tim answered.

"I just don't know. The Muslim bans, the banning of global warming research… it's ridiculous. How anyone can continue denying global warming after all the research we've done is beyond the pale."

"He quietly kicked a bunch of Muslims out of the military, too. Happened to a couple kids I was friends with on the Clinton. They wanted to re-up, but were told no, with no reason given. It was the same time I re-upped, no problems." Tim added.

"I knew a couple Muslims who were kicked out, too, on minor disciplinary matters that should have gotten them no more than a write-up," Miguel said.

"Hopefully the UEO protects those who are left," Tim looked doubtful.

"Hopefully, but this is what I'm talking about. I'm not sure I can support this anymore. I'm not sure I want to be a part of it," Miguel said.

"What are your other options?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. I'm a sailor. I've always wanted to be a sailor. I still want to be a sailor." Miguel sighed, "there aren't really other professions where one can be a sailor."

"No, there's not. Look, it's only 2 more years, and then we'll elect someone better. Stick with us. Stick with Captain Bridger. He pretty much does his own thing anyway and I'm sure he won't let any harm come to anyone under his command if there is absolutely anything he can do about it."


	20. Love

"Truth or Dare?" Ben asked Katie.

"Truth," she answered confidently.

"OK, who was your first celebrity crush?" Ben asked, laughing.

"Joey McIntyre," Katie said, laughing.

"Oh, no way, the New Kids?" Ben laughed, and Tim and Miguel joined in.

"The who?" Lucas asked.

"Kids!" Ben sputtered out laughing.

"A boy band called New Kids On the Block," Tim explained. "They were popular in the early 90s."

"They still tour," Miguel chimed in, "but I don't think anyone under 30 has ever been to one of their shows."

"I went to see them when I was 7," Katie told them, "but no way I'd pay to go now."

"You know who did improve from their younger days, though," Miguel chimed in.

"Who's that?" Tim asked.

"Hanson,"

"Like 'mmbop?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, some of their adult music is actually really good. Here I'll show you." Miguel said fidgeting with his iPod. Music came out of it shortly afterwards. They all listened, and finally Lucas said, "this is really good,"

"Yeah," everyone agreed. "Why don't we hear this on the radio?"

"I heard it on NPR." Miguel said, "they interviewed the boys about their transitions in their careers."

"Alright, Tim, Truth or Dare?" Katie asked.


	21. New

"What's in the boxes, Ben?" Lucas asked.

"New iPads for everyone aboard seaQuest."

"Will they connect with the cell signal?" Lucas asked again.

"Only when you're on shore, but they'll all connect to the wifi on the ship," Ben answered

"So do I get one?"

"Yes, come by my room in about an hour and I'll start handing them out," Ben told him, and then continued walking away.

An hour later Lucas started a queue outside Ben's door. Three or four people were ahead of him, but he was one of the first to walk away with a brand new iPad. He went back to his room and set it up. It started by asking to connect to the wifi and then asked for Lucas' apple id. Lucas tried a few different passwords and failed each time. On his third try it locked him out and demanded he change his password. He typed a new combination of words into the bar and was told "new password cannot be old password"

"Fuckit!" Lucas yelled pounding the wall. He tried three more times, getting the same error each time, until on the fourth try, he got a new password. He immediately wrote it down, and moments later his phone chimed, demanding the new password. He plugged it in and then went back to setting up the iPad. He downloaded the InterNex app and looked for Wolfman.

"What are you going to do with it?" Wolfman asked.

"My job, mostly, and stream TV."

"I've got a few apps I can recommend." Wolfman suggestsd.

"Great. Like what?"

Wolfman suggested a few games to play on the iPad, and then asked, "do you want a good podcast app or you good with the default?"

"I'll probably continue listening to podcasts on my phone, honestly," Lucas answered while downloading the games Nick suggested.

When he had the iPad exactly as he wanted it, he finally went to bed.


	22. Beggars

Lucas returned from scuba diving in the Philippines. "Ben! Can you get me a new cell phone? Mine got stolen on the beach!" he spat.

"Can't you trace it?"

"I can, and I did. I got to someone's house, but the police refused to do anything about it."

"Well that's crap," Ben said, "but here, we have one iPhone 8 left."

"Ugh. Do we have anything with a headphone jack available?" Lucas moaned.

"Nope. Beggars can't be choosers, Lucas."

"Fine. Thanks."

"If it helps, I think it comes with a headphone add on in the box," Ben called after him.

"I will lose that in a heartbeat," Lucas muttered, walking away to set up the new phone. He quickly realized the flaw in his plan. He didn't know how to get the phone on his phone plan until the next time he was in The United States. "Captain?" he called on his communicator.

"Yes Lucas?"

"When will we be in the US again?" he asked.

"Probably in about a month, we'll have a day in Los Angeles," the Captain told him.

A month sounded like a long time to go without a phone, but Lucas realized he'd probably be under water and unable to use his phone for most of it anyway. He sighed and stared at the new phone. He could at least put it on the wifi and use Skype with it. He could probably recreate his apps from his old phone, too, and play games on the wifi. He logged into his apple id, and found that most of that stuff had been saved for him. "Well, at least that's good," he muttered, and downloaded everything all at once. He found the piece that connected the headphone jack to the charging port on the phone, and put it in his desk drawer. "Hope I can find that again," he said to himself, before plugging the phone in to charge, and going to bed.


	23. False

"Lucas got totally drunk and danced on the table at the Christmas party!" Ben announced to anyone who would listen. Of course, most of the crew had been there, but this time Ben was talking to Juliana and Nick.

"That is totally false!" Lucas protested.

"I have the pictures!" Ben told him, pulling out his phone.

Lucas jumped at him, "Ben put that away!"

"I just think your friends ought to see your Christmas pictures," Ben said pulling them up, and showing Juliana. She and Nick laughed

"You're lucky they let you drink around here. Node 3 doesn't allow alcohol even for the people who are over 21."

"Let might be pushing it." Lucas said. "Ben spiked the punch without telling anyone."

"This is a submarine!" Ben laughed.

"People have a right to know if they are drinking," Lucas protested, "what if there were someone who was 12 stepping it?"

Ben looked a little subdued. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted.

"Of course you didn't. Just like you didn't think that there was someone who is only 16 aboard," Captain Bridger told him, approaching from behind. Ben's mood was immediately subdued. "Yes sir, sorry sir" he said immediately.

"I think a fitting consequence is that you have to clean the puke out of the grates between the mess hall and Lucas' room," Bridger said.

Ben turned green.

"There are paper towels in the mess closet, and a mop and bucket in the bathroom closet," Bridger told him.

"Yes sir," Ben said turning around.


	24. Happy

"Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof," Lucas sang cheerfully. Tim looked at him, then laughed and clapped. "Hey thanks Tim!" Lucas interrupted his song to say. "Clap along if you know that happiness is the truth," Tim sang with him. They walked down the hall singing and clapping.

"What's the occasion?" Ben asked.

"We're happy!" they both sang.

"I'm always down for a celebration. What are we celebrating?"

"It's my birthday!" Lucas enthused.

"Hey! Happy Birthday, Lucas!" Ben and Tim both said.

"Thanks guys!" Lucas said, continuing down the hallway singing "Because I'm happy!"

He got back to his room and logged on to Facebook. He had "Happy Birthday" messages from most of his friends, and much of the seaQuest crew. He smiled and liked each message, replying back to those who asked him questions or made more personal comments. "100 birthday wishes, I'm a lucky guy" he posted on his own wall, which immediately started getting more likes and happy birthday messages posted to it. He vaguely wondered whether dolphins had any concept of birthdays, so he called Darwin on the vocorder. "Darwin, do dolphins have birthdays?" he asked.

"What is birthday?" Darwin asked.

"Like, the day you were born. Do you celebrate it every year?" Darwin looked at him curiously.

"Do you know how old you are Darwin?" Lucas asked.

"Darwin is not old. Darwin is new" came the answer. Lucas laughed. "I guess not," he said "We should give you a birthday."

"Darwin's birthday?" he asked.

"We can celebrate your birthday every year. I'll ask Captain Bridger when he found you, and then that will be your birthday," Lucas called up to the captain, who could only remember that it was sometime in April. "April fools it is, then" Lucas said laughing. "That's your birthday, Darwin, April 1st"


	25. Cancer

"Is this a liver?" Lucas asked Kristin, poking at a liver in a petri dish.

"Yes, it's a shark's liver," Kristin answered him. "Sharks don't get cancer, so we hope by studying their DNA we can find a cure for cancer in humans. And don't touch that. You'll contaminate it."

"Sorry," he said, removing his finger from the liver. He continued peering at it. Doctor Westphalen grabbed it, and started chopping it up to extract the DNA. Then she took a lump of something and told Lucas, "this is liver cancer. We're trying to find out why our shark friend over here can't get it. So we'll expose it to the shark's DNA and see if it shrinks."

"I think I prefer living animals," Lucas said with a blanched look on his face.

"Yes, yes, go to your dolphin," Kristin laughed.

Lucas walked the ten feet between Kristin's station, and the nearest open water aboard the sub. "Darwin?" he called.

"Lucas Play," came the answer.

"Yes, Lucas play." Lucas got in the water with Darwin and brought a basketball, attaching a basketball net to the edge of the pool. They splashed and played basketball until Kristin called him again. "Lucas, come look at this." He got out of the water and headed over to the microscope. "It looks like you chopped the cancer up," he said.

"Yes, but I didn't. The shark's liver did that."

"Doc, are you saying you've come up with a cure to cancer?"

"I wouldn't go that far this quickly, but, it looks promising.


	26. Pickpocket

"Damnit" Miguel swore.

"What's the matter?" Tim asked him.

"I can't find my phone. Can you call me?" Miguel asked him. Tim picked up his phone and dialed Miguel. It didn't ring. It finally went to voice mail.

"When's the last time you know you had it?" Tim asked him.

"At the Starbucks. I definitely had it when I used it to pay for my coffee," Miguel thought about it. I haven't seen it since then.

"Let's see if the GPS is working on it then, maybe it's still at Starbucks." Tim opened his laptop. Miguel entered his password, and the phone showed up on the map. It was at a private residence in the middle of Pearl Harbor. "We didn't go anywhere near there," Tim said.

"No, I guess I should call the cops," Miguel answered.

"Yes, and remotely wipe your phone before they get any personal data off it." Tim reminded him.

Miguel pressed a button on the computer, and called 911. He told them he had tracked his phone, and it had been stolen. The police asked if he wanted to give a statement, but admitted there wasn't much they could do since they wouldn't bother getting a warrant for anything as small as a phone. He hung up, and swore again.


	27. Reverse

"Full reverse!" Captain Bridger ordered sharply.

"Full reverse, aye," came the answer immediately, and the helmsman pulled back on the steering wheel as hard as he could. The ship jerked to a stop, but not quickly enough to avoid a column of fresh water in the Bermuda Triangle.

"Way heavy." Announced the helmsman.

"Ballasts away," Bridger commanded. It was done immediately and gave them just enough of a bounce to escape the fresh water. They escaped backwards.

"Call Commander Ford. Tell him to remain still and we'll come to him," Bridger ordered Tim O'Neil. Tim dialed the commander's shuttle but received no response. "I can't reach the commander, sir," he informed Nathan.

"Damn," Bridger swore, and ordered Miguel to find the commander with the WSKRS.

"The commander is still on shore," Miguel announced, finally, and the entire room let out its collective breath.

Minutes later, Miguel announced, "The commander's shuttle is wet, sir," and Bridger again ordered O'Neil to tell him they'd come to him not the other way around. Before he could, he was getting a distress call from the commander, "Mayday, mayday, this is MR4"

"Get to him," Bridger commanded, and the helmsman steered around the freshwater until they reached the commander. They couldn't reach him because he was in a column of fresh water. But, they sent a magnet to grab him and bring him back.


	28. Deliver

Deliver OLA-5 modules to nexus, pick up then deliver MI-6 modules to sea cove. Pick up then deliver RS-2 modules to somewhere else. You'd think the UEO had forgotten that air travel is still faster than submarine travel, even aboard the seaQuest. And how am I supposed to allow my scientists any access to a single location to do research for any amount of time when the UEO is using me as a courier service? I mean, I know the science contingent is supposed to know that we may pick up and move at any moment, but all this movement for nothing is stupid. Put these stupid things aboard an airplane and then a mail delivery ship when they get close to where they are going. I don't have time for all this nonsense. I want to study my rhubarb, and find out if we've successfully made a version that can survive the low light conditions of a colony. I want to count dolphins in a specific geographic area to find out how their health is doing. I do not want to be the post office for the UEO. This submarine is too fantastic to waste our potential playing mail man for Noyce.


	29. Arrival

Lucas stood in the entrance way to his new home aboard the seaQuest DSV. People ran this way and that not really paying attention to him. Occasionally he got a strange look, but no one stopped to help him. Everyone around him was wearing either the black wetsuit that made up a submariner's uniform, or the blue khaki uniform that identified the science crew. He alone wore a Marlin's jersey and blue jeans. He looked around nervously. Finally, he caught the attention of a tall African American man in military uniform. "I'm commander Ford. You must be Lucas Wolenczack."

"Yes," Lucas said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Your room is in mammal engineering, just follow the signs. All your things have already been put in your room for you," he told him.

"Great, thanks," Lucas said, looking around for a sign. He found one that led to MagLev, and took that to the engineering department. He stepped off the MagLev, and found a sign directing him to his rom. He started walking. It was a bit of a hike, but he eventually found his room. He pushed open the door. There were pipes overhead, painted bright yellow. He could probably hit his had on them pretty easily if he weren't careful. He threw his carry on onto the bed, and sat down. His computer was in boxes around the room along with his clothing and the vocorder project he was working on. He hadn't thought to label everything before he packed it, so it was a crap-shoot what was where. He opened a box. It was a box of clothes, so he tossed it aside. He opened a few more boxes. He found the yellow vocorder speakers, and the monitor for his computer. He looked around. He had promised to send an email to his parents as soon as he could so they would know he arrived safely. They probably wouldn't notice the lack of an email, but he wanted to send it anyway.

Finally, a knock came on the door. "These got sent to engineering instead of mammal engineering" the officer said, handing him three more boxes. He opened them, and finally, there was his computer. He plugged it in and logged onto the wifi. He sent out an email to his parents and a few friends, and then logged off and took the vocorder tot he moon pool, which he had seen on his trip in. He plugged the vocorder in and then drummed on the side wall of the moon pool looking for a dolphin. Finally, Dr Westphalen came in, "there's no dolphin yet. The military has not thought to inform me of why," she said.

"But all my research is with dolphins," Lucas protested, as he hung up the speaker device.

"The military claims there will be a dolphin. There just isn't yet. I don't know why," she repeated. Lucas shrugged his shoulders and went back to his room to log onto the InterNex. He stayed there a few hours until his next task was to find food. He made his way back to the MagLev, where he saw a sign for the mess hall. He made his way there, and got a hamburger and fries before finding a table by himself. He watched people come and go as he ate, but no one paid attention to the kid in the corner.


	30. Fall

p class="p1"It is October 31span class="s1"supst/sup/span, Halloween. Lucas looked around. Everyone around him was in uniform. Even Ben Krieg, who could usually be counted upon for a laugh, was wearing his uniform. He sighed. Sure, Halloween was largely for children, but, well, he was still a child, wasn't he? Maybe, if he were still at home, he'd find a small child to take trick or treating, and collect candy, too. His friends were planning Trick Or Treat escapades. He was jealous. Maybe if people at least dressed up here he'd feel better. But no. He tracked down Ben and asked him if he had any slasher flicks he could class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Sorry, really only family films," Ben admitted. "But I hear they're playing Scream in the community theater tonight," he added, seeing Lucas' face class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Like, older than me, Scream?" Lucas class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Geeze you're young," Ben class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""I'm 16," Lucas defended class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""I'm twice your age," Ben class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Geeze you're old," Lucas class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Work now, boys," Katie interjected. Both men looked down momentarily, and then got back to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p2" /p  
p class="p1"At dinner, Lucas found cupcakes with orange frosting. At least someone was making some effort to celebrate the holiday, even if there were no costumes. He helped himself to two of them, and ate them before his pizza, getting orange frosting on his nose. "You like Halloween, eh?" Tim asked class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Love it." He class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Are you going to come watch Scream with us tonight?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""I think so," Lucas class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p2" /p  
p class="p1"After dinner, Lucas decided to go downstairs and watch Scream, despite it being older than he was. It wasn't the scary movie he wanted; in fact he laughed through most of it. Nonetheless, it was better than class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p 


	31. Knife

p class="p1"Lucas and Ben fenced with their knives in the mess hall. Lucas bent his wrist, announcing, as his knife touched Ben's uniform sleeve, "I got you!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""I'll get you for that!" Ben retorted and touched Lucas on the back of the hand with his knife. They both laughed. They continued their sword fighting until Tim came up behind them, and got poked with a knife. The sword fighters looked at each other. Tim stared at the knife for a moment too long, then took out his own knife and stabbed Ben with it. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, and the knives clicked against each other for another several minutes until Katie came in. "Boys," she said with a warning tone in her voice. All of them put their knives down. They were having fake steak. Ben poked at his with his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""What's wrong Ben?" Lucas class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""It's fake," he class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""That way it's not a cow," Lucas said, cutting into class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Cows are tasty," Ben replied, cutting into his, too, and then stabbing it with a fork. Lucas made a face. "Have you ever even had real ice cream?" he class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""The soy stuff is tasty," Lucas class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Not the way real ice cream was, though," Ben said class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""I'll take your word for it," Lucas told class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p 


	32. Torn

p class="p1"Shan's sleeve had a hole torn in it. He had been just about to assassinate al-Baghdadi. He had seen him with his almost bald head, and bushy beard. President Trump had put a bounty on his head of a million dollars. Shan was technically on leave, so he didn't have backup from the UEO with him, but he had found al-Baghdadi thanks to Lucas' hacking skills. They would split the million dollars, if Shan could just catch him without getting himself killed. He watched him carefully through the scope on his sniper rifle. He was talking to someone Shan didn't recognize, but those were the only two people in evidence anywhere around. It was now or never. Shan pulled the trigger, and watched as al-Baghdadi crumpled to the floor. His conversation partner hit the floor too, hiding himself behind a car. Shan knew he had to get out of there before this man called an alarm and they found him. He ran. It had been a quarter of a mile shot, and they'd look much closer first. He got to a busy street and then started walking down the street. He didn't exactly fit in, being Korean in Iraq, but he could be any soldier, and wasn't necessarily the man who had just killed al-Baghdadi. He went to the nearest army base and told them what he had done. They seemed to not quite believe him, but sent helicopters to check out the area, and confirmed the kill. "Congratulations, sailor," said the base commander. "How did you do it?" They debriefed him at length, and finally sent him back to the seaQuest, with a million dollars to his name./p 


	33. Danger

p class="p1""Danger!" Darwin class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Danger where, Darwin?" Lucas asked, with boredom evident in his class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Danger Shark," Darwin class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Where?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1"Darwin looked at him side eyed. All of a sudden someone called over the intercom "Captain, there's a shark in the moon pool."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""What kind of shark?" Nathan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""A hammer head," came the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Shit" Lucas class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Shit" Nathan swore. "How did that get here?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""We did just let Darwin out to feed," Kristin reported. "I suppose it just followed him in,"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Block off the moon pool and keep Darwin out of there, then open the doors and see if he swims outside on his own," Nathan commanded the bridge. His orders were immediately carried out, but the shark had moved out of the moon pool before he got trapped in there. He was swimming through the tubes, towards the bridge. The only positive that Nathan could see was that Darwin was trapped on the opposite side of the moon pool with Lucas in Mammal class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1"The shark made his way to the bridge and lunged out of the water., landing with a crash in the water against the glass. span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Close the pool!" Commander Ford ordered, and it was immediately done. The shark swam around looking at class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Maybe we can put some blood in the water, and the shark will follow it back here?" Kristin suggested, back at the moon class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Do we have blood?" Nathan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1"Kristin pulled a scalpel out of her medical supplies and cut her finger. A few drops of blood fell into the water, and like clockwork, the shark followed the scent back to the moon pool. They trapped him there, and opened the sea doors and just waited until the shark finally class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p 


	34. Neutral

p class="p1"Nothing aboard the seaQuest was neutral toned. Everything was either blue or bright yellow. It made it quite jarring when one had to go to UEO headquarters, Nathan thought. Everything surrounding him was neutral. Even the art work was merely inoffensive. He scanned his handprint on the black box allowing him access to the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Captain Bridger, so good to see you," one of them, whose name he could never remember, said, offering a class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Admiral," he replied, taking the hand, and uncertain whether he should also class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Don't worry about formalities here, besides, I'm hardly the highest ranking in the room," the man answered his question without being class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Nathan!" Bill called out, coming over to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Bill!" Nathan replied class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Don't worry about a thing. The admirals just want to get your opinion on how the science and military contingents are getting along on your ship. We're considering expanding the experiment to put science crews on a few more submarines, and we'd like to hear how it's going on the seaQuest."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Honestly, it's tricky, Bill," Nathan class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Hold that thought," Bill interrupted, and called everyone to order. Everyone sat down at a long chair with Bill at one head and Nathan at the other. The other Admirals sat along the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Alright, we are here to discuss the science experiment aboard seaQuest," Bill said, "You were saying it's tricky?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""It is. Many of the career navy people don't understand the science types, and we get a good number of complaints. I understand from Dr. Westphalen that it was worse before I came aboard."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""It was," Bill class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""My honest opinion is that if you want to expand this experiment, you need to carefully pick your captains for their scientific backgrounds, like, I assume, you picked me."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Thank you for your candor. While you have everyone's ear, is there anything else you'd like to add on the matter?"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""No, thank you, I think I've said everything I need to say," Nathan answered class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1""Great. I'll see you out," Bill said, standing up. Everyone else stood up after him, and he and Nathan made their ways through the neutral hallways and back outside to the bustling city of Pearl class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p 


	35. Mate

p class="p1"Going from Captain of the seaQuest to First Mate of the seaQuest wasn't exactly Commander Ford's first choice, but then again, he knew that he would not have been given the command if it weren't to immediately give up the command to Captain Bridger. Still, he was usually cool as a cucumber under pressure, and now he was ordered to freeze and panic and not be himself. He would give the Captain a bad first impression of him, and who's to say the captain would then choose to make him his first mate?span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p  
p class="p1"In the end, it wouldn't matter. The situation turned a lot more dangerous than he had expected, and he had legitimately frozen. Most of Admiral Noyce's plan did work. Captain Bridger assumed command, and dealt with the problem, and he was back on the team. Unfortunately, it came with a cost. People had died at that civilian station the Delta submarine had attacked. And Commander Ford had learned something about himself he had believed impossible. He wasn't always cool under pressure. He was cool under pressure because the super sub gave him every advantage. As soon as he lost his advantage, he lost his cool, too. He panicked and someone else had to pick up the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p 


	36. Chapter 36

This story will be finished on AO3, since has decided to take it upon itself to add html to my posts, and I am not about to start reuploading each chapter as I upload them in an effort to get rid of that problem. I am Zhelana over there, come find me.


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